Chapter 10

AN: Thanks to everyone who is continuing to follow this story. I appreciate your words of encouragement and the time you've put into reading my work! Hugs to all!

BPOV

That infernal howling broke the stare between Edward and me. I really just wanted to take a shower and close my eyes.

Maybe I'd wake up and find that all this was the dream? Although I was becoming awfully attached to Edward.

"Uh Edward? Would you mind sitting here while I take my shower? I'm afraid that howling is getting to me. "

"Sure, I'd be happy to, I'll just sit here" he said as he gestured toward an overstuffed dove gray chair by a reading lamp.

I went to my luggage and opened the big duffel bag that Mom and I bought at the Army Surplus Store back in Phoenix.

I rummaged around in the bag and finally found a pair of white cotton boy shorts, a pair of blue check flannel pajama bottoms that were fairly new and a long sleeve thermal sleep shirt with a snow flake on the middle of it. I bundled up everything and went into the bathroom, all the while trying to ignore the fact that Edward was right on the other side of the door.

I got my shampoo, conditioner and body wash out of my bag. Then decided on 'the works and dug back into my bag and got out a razor too.

Bar none, this was the nicest bathroom that I had ever been in and I loved bathrooms. It was like a five star spa except that I had it all to myself. This bathroom was actually bigger that my room at Charlie's house.

I fiddled with the knobs in the shower for a couple minutes before I figured them all out. Once I got everything just right, I just stood there and let all the hot water massage my sore muscles. A girl could get used to this!

I washed my hair twice and then gave into temptation and used one of the ultra expensive conditioners that was stored in a corner of the shower. I left it in my hair while I soaped up and shaved my legs.

By the time, I'd finished I felt better. Going through these everyday tasks helped to clear my head. I dried off, got dressed and wrapped my hair in a towel while I pulled out my brush and blow dryer.

I sat at the vanity in the bathroom and dried my hair until it was barely damp. Then I flossed and brushed my teeth. When I'd done with everything I could think of, I gathered up my clothes and took a deep breath before I opened the door.

I wished that I didn't feel like I was going on a date instead of going to bed. I found myself hoping that I looked OK for Edward, like I wanted to please him.

I had about a thousand mixed feelings about everything – that was everything with a capital E! I never thought that I would be a girl who tried so hard to impress a guy.

I reminded myself that whatever was going on between us - it was beyond a crush. It had to be. When I'm actually with Edward, my worries and doubts seemed more manageable – like I had a tour guide through this craziness.

When I opened the door, I noticed a huge old grandfather clock and saw that it was almost one o'clock in the morning. No wonder I was tried!

Then I remembered that I had never called my mom. I rushed over to the bed and pulled my phone out of my jeans and texted her quickly – arrived fine 2 excited to sleep, will call 2morrow.

Edward came to stand near me as I texted my mom. "I forgot to call my mom." I explained.

"I'm sorry" he said, I should have reminded you after you mentioned it earlier.

I am so not used to people apologizing to me for things that aren't their fault!

"No, don't be sorry. It's my own fault. It'll be fine" I told him. "My mom is always losing track of time. I doubt that she has even noticed that I forgot to call. And if she gets worried, she'll call me. It's fine, really."

It was kind of awkward looking up at him while I am sitting so I scooted back toward the pillows and made some space for him. And so I found myself sitting with a self-proclaimed vampire who happened to be the most handsome, best smelling boy I had ever seen.

I heard that stupid howl again. It was really getting old. I mean, it had practically killed my father.

I jumped a little and Edward shifted up beside of me on the bed, putting his arm around me.

Without giving it any thought, I snuggled into his side, my head on his shoulder.

I told myself I would move in a second but I didn't, I just closed my eyes... for a second...

EPOV

Bella fell asleep almost as soon as she settled beside of me. I waited a few minutes and then shifted her a bit to cover her up with the down comforter. I then put my arms back around her.

I really hadn't intended to be so forward. Somehow I had crossed several boundaries with Bella that I really shouldn't have.

I reminded myself that she hadn't seemed to mind, in fact, she seemed at ease with me.

She was an unusual human. The overwhelming majority of humans were uneasy around us even if they didn't know quite why. Bella was worried but she wasn't scared. I looked forward to getting to know her better. And I was hoping that Alice was correct and that she was truly mine.

Around four am, I decided that I would stay put after already holding her for two hours. I monitored my family's activities easily from my place beside of Bella.

Jasper and Emmett had gone outside to see if they could at least drive the wolf away from the house. They wanted to confront it but Carlisle had vetoed that until he spoke to the Quileutes up on the reservation, he thought this creature was likely linked to the tribe.

Many years ago when Carlisle lived near the Quileute land, he found that some of the Quileutes had the ability to shape-shift into wolves. The Cullen family had a long standing truce with the Quileutes. Our family pledged to not bite any humans or come onto the Quileute land and in return, the shape-shifters wouldn't attack us or reveal our presence to humans.

Carlisle was planing to call Billy Black, one of the Quileute elders in the morning. He also anticipated that the news over Charlie's turning could jeopardize the fragile peace between us and the Quileutes. He hoped that Billy Black's long standing friendship with Charlie would ease the situation.

Alice was on line ordering of all things a bed for my room! Esme was in the kitchen looking over cookbooks planning what to cook next for Bella.

Only Rose didn't seem consumed by our guests although she did seem quieter than usual. My sister hated change more than anything.

And so I settled in to the cadence of Bella's heartbeat.

BPOV

I woke up to find that it was another gray day in Forks. I turned to the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was already eleven o'clock in the morning; then again it was probably close to two when I fell asleep.

I took a deep breath and decided to get up and face the music.

I looked through my duffle bag again and pulled out some clothes. I first found some old blue jeans and then thought better of it and pulled out some new dark rinse boot cut jeans that Renee got me last weekend. I paired these up with a navy camisole and gray sweater.

While I was brushing my hair, I noticed that the ultra-expensive conditioner really did its job; my hair was straighter than it usually was in this moisture-laden environment. I added some mascara and some lip gloss and figured I couldn't delay this forever.

I made my way to the kitchen where Edward sat on a stool reading the New York Times. In front of him was a plate of fruit and another with bagels and cream cheese. I slid into the stool next to him. He looked to finish the article he was reading before he looked up but something told me that he was very aware of me since the moment I woke up.

His smile was just as breathtaking as I remembered. His topaz eyes twinkled as he looked at me.

"Good Morning, Bella."

"Good Morning, Edward. Did you get any sleep?"

"No, not at all. One of the things that the movies and books get wrong about us is the idea that we sleep in the dark all day and stay up all night. The fact is that we don't sleep at all."

I mulled that over as I reached for a bagel and some cream cheese.

"What would you like to drink? We've got coffee, tea, soda pop, juice – we didn't know what you liked so Esme got some of each."

I shook my head at the excess, "You didn't have to go to all this trouble, I would have been happy with whatever you guys usually have."

He shrugged and gave me this beautiful crooked smile, "Ah, that's another thing Bella – we don't eat or drink human food."

OK, now I know I saw them eat yesterday, "I saw you eat yesterday, plus, you have a eat something!" I exclaimed.

"We are good at pretending. I guess you could say our lives depend on it. But to answer your question, we do eat; just not human food."

I realized what he was getting at. Of course, we talked about this last night when we talked about Charlie. Vampires were bloodthirsty, they craved blood. I guessed that was the one thing that the media did get right!

"So, you said that all of you have made the decision to not drink human blood and that you hope that Charlie will make the same choice. What do you drink if you don't bite humans? Do you break into a blood bank, do you pay for donations?"

Edwards laughed. He seemed genuinely entertained by my questions. "No blood banks - even human blood taken that way sustains the desire for hunting humans. No, we hunt animals – wild life – is the best option that we have yet to come up with. We like to think of ourselves as vegetarian vampires if you will."

Before I could stop myself from saying something ridiculous, I say "Charlie likes to hunt."

I amended myself, "Well, he has always liked to hunt and fish before - I mean with equipment."

Edward was now looking at me with an expression that told me that he was actually enjoying listening to me dig myself into a verbal hole.

He smiled that sideways smile of his. "I would venture to guess that he will enjoy it even more now – without equipment, I mean."

The utter absurdness of our conversation suddenly struck us as silly and we started laughing together. It felt wonderful to have a normal moment after all of the revelations of the last day.

Edward went back to his paper and as I finished my breakfast the thought of Edward stalking some kind of big animal in the wilderness kept running through my mind. I couldn't seem to help myself, it was kind-of sexy to me. OK, I admited it - the idea flat out did it for me.

Skeptical Bella shook her head; I couldn't believe my mind was even going in such a direction. I had never been what I would consider 'boy crazy'. Sure, I appreciated a cute guy but nothing, nothing like this! I always thought that I would be an old maid, pleasantly going through my orderly life – traveling, studying, and taking care of Renee and Charlie in their old age.

Even if I ignored the supernatural stuff, he had thrown me for a loop. With these feelings came these half formed desires that seemed way out of my league. It was if I went skiing for the first time and instead of starting with the bunny slope, I went right for the advanced course. The ideas in my head went way beyond holding hands.

I suddenly had these desires that my mind couldn't really even picture but I knew that I wanted to be closer to Edward. I wanted to run my palms over the smooth column of his strong neck. I wanted to burrow my nose in the spot behind his ear. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me hard.

I have never wanted things like this before. I guessed that I could label it lust but lust didn't seem to cover it. When I thought of lust, I thought of something more generalized and crude like simply desiring the physical sensations of sex. My desire was simply for Edward himself – no other.

While I was finishing the last of my bagel, I noticed him watching me out of the corner of his eye.

Again, I put my foot in my mouth. "You're watching me."

He held his hands up in mock surrender, "You caught me, I am."

"Why?"

As the word exited my lips, our eyes catch and hold and our fairly playful banter somehow faded into something more serious. I am drawn into his eyes. He lowered his chin just slightly as he answered me, as if he was emphasizing the intensity of his words.

"Because Bella, you are my mate."